A  CONTRIBUTION 
TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


One  Hundred  'iJears  in  the  XOorK  of  the 
American  "Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society 


By 

THE  REV.  THOMAS  S.  BARBOUR,  D.D. 


Foreign  Secretary  of  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society^  ^^99  1912 


ADONIRAM  JUDSON 
The  Pioneer  and  Apostle  of  Burma 


This  interesting  contribution  to  the  history  of  Christian  Missions  was’^preparect 
for  “The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,”  and  is  to  appear 

in  the  August  Number 


Copyright,  1914 


FUNK  ^  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 


CUSHING  MEMORIAL  BUILDINGS^  RANGOON  BAPTIST  COLLEGE,  BURMA 


A  Contribution  to  Christian 

Missions 

ONE  HUNDRED  YEARS  IN  THE  WORK  OF  THE  AMERICAN  BAPTIST 

FOREIGN  MISSION  SOCIETY 

BY  REV.  THOMAS  S.  BARBOUR,  D.D. 

Foreign  Secretary  of  the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society,  1899-1912 


HE  General  Convention 
for  Foreign  Missions 
of  American  Baptists 
was  constituted  at 
Philadelphia,  May  21, 
1814.  The  occasion 
was  given  unique  interest  by  the  fact 
that  the  work  of  the  first  mission¬ 
aries  of  the  new  organization  had  be¬ 
gun  many  months  before.  Two 
earlier  days  are  memorable  in  the 
story  of  the  birth  of  this  movement — 
the  first,  that  on  which  Adoniram 
Judson,  a  student  at  Andover  Sem¬ 
inary,  read  Buchanan’s  “Star  in  the 


East,”  and  paced  the  floor  in  un¬ 
controllable  excitement ;  the  second, 
that  of  the  arrival  in  Boston  of  a 
vessel  from  British  India  with  let¬ 
ters  through  which  the  Baptist 
leaders  learned  that  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Judson  had  become  virtually  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  American  Baptists  in 
the  Far  East. 

The  Beginnings 

Like  the  American  Board  of  Com¬ 
missioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 
constituted  four  years  before  the 
meeting  in  Philadelphia,  the  con- 


4 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


A  GROUP  OF  HEATHEN  KACHINS,  BURMA 


vention  of  Baptists  was  linke4  in  its 
origin  with  the  group  of  young  men 
at  Andover  whose  minds  ‘Vere 
imprest  with  the  duty  of  personally 
attempting  a  mission”  to  the  non- 
Christian  world.  The  later  work, 
like  the  earlier  movement,  was  the 
product  of  forces  long  active  in  the 
life  of  American  churches.  From 
an  early  time  Baptist  churches  had 
been  characterized  by  evangelistic 
zeal,  and  in  the  increasing  interest 
in  which  at  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  Western 
world  was  reflecting  the  glow  of  the 
missionary  awakening  in  England, 
they  had  prominently  shared.  With 
most,  if  not  all,  of  the  interdenomi¬ 
national  organizations  constituted  at 
this  time  for  work  in  the  home  fields. 
Baptists  were  identified.  A  note¬ 
worthy  indication  of  this  is  afforded 
in  the  fact  that,  in  the  founding  in 
1800  of  the  “Boston  Female  Society 
for  Missionary  Purposes” — the  first 
woman’s  society  known  in  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  country — the  originator 
and  seven  others  in  the  total  of  four¬ 
teen  members  were  connected  with 
the  Baptist  churches  of  Boston.  And 
in  distinctively  foreign  work,  among 


Baptists  as  in  other  bodies,  interest 
was  steadily  growing.  The  corre¬ 
spondence  maintained  by  a  number 
of  Baptist  leaders  with  William 
Carey  ensured  this.  A  significant 
manifestation  of  this  development 
was  seen  in  the  city  in  which  the 
young  men  of  Andover  were  set 
apart  for  their  life-work.  A  few 
days  after  the  memorable  service  in 
the  Salem  Tabernacle,  there  was 
constituted  in  the  Baptist  Church  of 
Salem  the  “Bible  Translation  and 
Foreign  Mission  Society,”  the  first 
known  organization  in  America  for 
promoting  the  work  of  foreign  mis¬ 
sions  established  by  a  single  local 
church. 

It  was  thus  to  a  body  in  which 
the  beginnings  of  a  true  missionary 
fervor  had  appeared  that  the  sum¬ 
mons  to  active  enlistment  in  the 
great  enterprise  came  suddenly  from 
the  forefront  of  the  conflict.  Yet 
tile  influence  of  the  change  of  con¬ 
viction  reached  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jud- 
son  and  by  Luther  Rice,  with  the 
resulting  change  in  their  denomina¬ 
tional  relations,  was  very  powerful 
in  promoting  the  action  taken  by 
Baptists.  “Your  letter  awakened  pro- 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


5 


A  GROUP  OF  CHRISTIAN  KACHINS,  BAPTIST  MISSION  SCHOOL,  BURMA 


found  emotion/’  Rev.  Daniel  Sharp 
writes  to  Mr.  Judson.  “We  considered 
it  the  voice  of  God.”  So  a  Southern 
leader,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  B.  Johnson  of 
Savannah,  Georgia,  in  informing  his 
constituency  of  the  proposed  con¬ 
vention  in  Philadelphia,  refers  to 
the  signs  appearing  in  England  of  the 
opening  of  a  new  Messianic  era,  and 
to  the  action  taken  in  America,  “to 
the  immortal  honor  of  our  Congre¬ 
gational  and  Presbyterian  brethren,” 
and  adds :  “That  our  brethren  of 
these  denominations  should  not  be 
alone  in  this  great  work;  God,  in  the 
arrangement  of  infinite  wisdom,  has 
been  pleased  to  bring  some  of  their 
missionaries  over  to  the  Baptist  per¬ 
suasion.” 

The  incident  was  of  large  influence 
also  in  the  internal  development  of 
the  body  of  American  Baptists.  For 
the  first  time  they  met  in  a  national 
fellowship.  Indeed,  this  drawing  to¬ 
gether  of  churches  widely  scattered, 
independent,  and  acutely  apprehen¬ 
sive  of  the  loss  of  independency 
through  development  of  organic  ties, 
may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
notable  of  the  early  results  of  the 
missionary  awakening. 


The  churches  thus  united  with  the 
growing  missionary  enterprise  formed 
a  less  prominent  body  than  that  rep¬ 
resented  four  years  before  in  the 
constitution  of  the  American  Board. 
Its  numerical  strength  of  about 
180,000  was  for  the  most  part  of  re¬ 
cent  development.  Thirty  years  before 
this  time,  at  the  close  of  the  War 
of  the  Revolution,  Baptists  num¬ 
bered  but  35,000;  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  there  were  but  twelve 
Baptist  churches  in  Massachusetts. 
Yet  the  meeting  in  Philadelphia  was 
truly  memorable.  For  this  delegated 
company  of  twenty-six  ministers  and 
seven  laymen  was  gathered  out  of  a 
territory  extending  from  northern 
New  England  through  the  State  of 
Georgia.  The  great  distances,  the 
primitive  modes  of  travel,  had 
seemed  at  first  a  truly  formid¬ 
able  difficulty.  But  the  significance 
of  the  occasion  was  powerful  in  its 
appeal — the  united  response  to  the 
Lord’s  command — the  meeting  of 
brethren  hitherto  known  to  each 
other  by  name  alone.  “It  was  as  if 
the  interviews  of  heaven  had  been 
anticipated,”  the  Missionary  Maga- 


6 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


zine  said  in  its  report  of  the  meet¬ 
ing. 

The  delegates  to  the  convention  at 
Philadelphia  were  appointed  by  local 


JOHN  E.  CLOUGH^  APOSTLE  TO  THE  TELUGUS 


missionary  organizations  established 
mainly  through  the  labors  of  Luther 
Rice.  The  organization  thus  con¬ 
stituted  was  known  popularly  as 
‘‘The  Triennial  Convention.”  The 
name  “The  American  Baptist  Mis¬ 
sionary  Union”  was  adopted  in  1846, 
to  be  succeeded  in  its  turn,  in  1910, 
by  the  name  “The  American  Baptist 
Foreign  Mission  Society.” 

Historical  Landmarks 

Certain  dates  are  landmarks  in  the 
history  of  the  society. 

In  1846,  as  a  result  of  the  in¬ 
fluences  then  pervasive  in  the  coun¬ 
try,  Southern  Baptists  separated 
from  the  society  and  began  an  inde¬ 
pendent  work,  which  has  proved  of 
continually  increasing  extent  and  in¬ 
fluence. 


In  1872,  the  distinctive  work  of 
Baptist  women  in  foreign  missions 
was  initiated.  Separate  organiza¬ 
tions  were  maintained  for  a  time  in 
the  eastern  and  western  sections  of 
the  country.  A  new  era  of  far- 
reaching  activities  has  now  been  en¬ 
tered  upon  by  the  united  body. 

In  1908,  in  the  organization  of 
the  Northern  Baptist  Convention,  the 
work  of  the  Foreign  Mission  So¬ 
ciety,  together  with  that  of  other 
missionary  organizations,  was  brought 
into  close  relation  with  the  churches 
and  formally  recognized  as  represent¬ 
ing  an  obligation  of  their  entire  mem¬ 
bership. 

In  1909,  the  missionary  work  of 
the  Free  Baptist  churches  was  united 
with  that  of  the  larger  body  of 
Northern  Baptists. 

The  Fields  Occupied 

The  work  in  foreign  lands  was 
begun  in  Burma,  where  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Judson  had  landed,  July  13, 


WILLIAM  ASHMORE,  APOSTLE  TO  THE  CHINESE 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


7 


1813.  This  country  had  attracted 
the  attention  of  Mr.  Judson  in  his 
iirst  thought  of  missionary  work. 
But  on  the  arrival  of  the  missionary 
party  in  India,  hostile  conditions  in 
Burma  had  seemed  to  compel  the 
choice  of  another  field,  and  it  was 
only  through  extraordinary  providen¬ 
tial  circumstances,  resulting  in  a  con- 


service  hy  this  country  to  the  world’s 
civilization  which  it  would  be  diffi¬ 
cult  to  overestimate. 

Work  for  the  American  Indians 
was  entered  upon  by  the  convention 
in  1817.  It  embraced  tribes  in  the 
State  of  New  York  and  on  the  west¬ 
ern  frontier,  but  reached  its  largest 
development  among  tribes  in  the 


viction  of  divine  leading  which  never 
left  them,  that  the  two  young  mis¬ 
sionaries  passed  beyond  the  protec¬ 
tion  of  European  governments  un¬ 
der  the  rule  of  a  despotic  and  cruel 
king.  “Our  sole  encouragement  to 
remain,”  wrote  Mrs.  Judson,  “is  in 
our  conviction  of  dependence  in  a 
peculiar  way  on  the  interposing  hand 
of  providence.”  The  strategic  posi¬ 
tion  of  Burma  has  been  recognized 
from  the  beginning  by  missionary 
and  official.  Its  great  river  consti¬ 
tutes  the  most  direct  highway  to 
Western  China  and  the  territories 
lying  still  farther  in  the  interior  of 
Asia,  and  gives  promise  of  an  ultimate 


South.  With  the  Cherokees  of 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia  a  re¬ 
markable  success  was  realized,  which 
continued  even  in  the  long  journey 
to  the  Indian  Territory  to  which  this 
people  were  compelled  to  remove  in 
1838.  One  hundred  and  seventy 
converts  made  Christian  profession 
during  this  journey.  In  the  new  ter¬ 
ritory  a  prosperous  work  was  con¬ 
ducted  for  the  Cherokees  and  other 
tribes.  This  work,  in  1865,  was 
transferred  to  the  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society,  by  which  or¬ 
ganization  it  has  been  continued  with 
very  gratifying  results 

The  peculiar  claim  of  Africa  re- 


DR.  CATHERINE  MABIE  HOLDING  A  BABIES'  CLINIC,  BANZA  MANTEKE,  BELGIAN  KONGO 


8 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  AlISSIONS 


ceived  early  recognition.  This  work 
in  its  origin  was  connected  with  an 
interesting  movement  among  freed- 
men  in  Virginia.  In  1820  a  station 
was  opened  in  the  Sierra  Leone  sec¬ 
tion  of  West  Africa;  this  was  soon 
removed  to  Monrovia,  where  a 
precious  offering  of  heroic  lives  was 
made.  The  fatal  climate  compelled 
withdrawal  from  this  work  soon 
after  1840.  In  1884,  in  response  to 


a  proposition  received  from  Dr.  H. 
Grattan  Guinness  of  London,  the 
work  of  the  Livingstone  Inland  Mis¬ 
sion,  in  the  Kongo  State,  was  taken 
over  by  the  society.  Its  mission¬ 
aries,  with  others,  were  prominent 
in  the  movement  for  relief  of  the 
Kongo  people  from  the  heartless  op¬ 
pression  of  King  Leopold,  and  the 
improved  conditions  now  reached 
in  the  Belgian  Kongo  are  in  part  at¬ 
tributable  to  their  courage  and 
fidelity. 

A  work  in  Siam,  largely  directed 
to  the  Chinese  immigrant  popula¬ 
tion,  was  begun  in  1833. 

In  1835,  invitation  of  the  Brit¬ 
ish  East  India  Government,  whose 


rule  at  the  close  of  the  first  Burman 
war  was  extended  to  Assam,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Nathan  Brown,  with  a 
companion  missionary  under  appoint¬ 
ment  as  a  printer,  removed  from 
Burma,  and,  dragged  in  native  boats 
against  the  swift  current,  made  the 
two  months’  journey  up  the  Brah¬ 
maputra.  The  work  in  Assam 
presses  close  upon  the  boundaries  of 
Tibet,  and  gains  importance  both 


from  the  sturdy  character  of  the 
peoples  reached  and  from  its  rela¬ 
tion  to  neighboring  parts  of  Asia, 
whose  millions  offer  a  field  for  future 
service  by  Christian  converts. 

In  the  same  year,  1835,  a  work 
was  opened  among  the  Telugus  of 
southeastern  India,  and  American 
Baptists  were  brought  thus  into  par¬ 
ticipation  in  the  great  conflict  with 
the  Hindu  faith.  Of  a  population  of 
twenty  millions  of  Telugus,  eight 
millions  are  in  the  immediate  field  of 
the  society. 

The  work  of  Free  Baptist  churches, 
while  quite  independent  of  the  work 
of  the  Triennial  Convention,  began 
in  British  India  in  the  same  year  in 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


9 


which  the  mission  to  the  Tehigiis 
was  opened.  This  work  has  been 
conducted  in  the  densely  populated 
district  southwest  from  Calcutta  in 
the  Bengal  and  Orissa  provinces. 
The  character  of  the  population  in 
this  stronghold  of  Hinduism  and 
Mohammedanism  has  made  the  ser¬ 
vice  one  of  peculiar  difficulties,  but 
while  thus  unavoidably  restricted  in 


results  for  a  time,  the  work  has  pre¬ 
sented  strong  features  and  is  rich 
in  promise. 

Four  fields  have  been  occupied  in 
China.  Two  of  these  were  entered 
at  the  time  of  the  opening  of  five 
port  cities  after  the  first  war  with 
England.  A  mission  in  Southern 
China,  opened  in  Hongkong  in  1842 
and  afterward  transferred  to  Swatow, 
was  an  extension  of  work  in  the 
dialect  used  by  the  Chinese  in  Siam. 
Ningpo  in  Eastern  China  was  occu¬ 
pied  in  1843.  Ill  1889  a  work  was 
entered  upon  in  the  great  Szchuen 
province  in  the  far  west  of  China. 
This  step  was  taken  as  a  result  of 


recognition  of  changing  conditions 
ill  the  country  and  conviction  of  the 
importance  of  early  occupation  of 
advantageous  positions.  Two  mis¬ 
sionaries  were  supported  for  a  few 
years  by  the  young  men  of  Minne¬ 
sota;  in  1893  a  strong  reinforce¬ 
ment  was  sent  by  the  society  to  this 
field.  Favor  toward  this  work  was 
heightened  by  recognition  of  a  pur¬ 


pose  in  view  at  the  time  of  the  open¬ 
ing  of  work  in  Assam — that  of  en¬ 
trance  to  China  through  its  western 
provinces.  As  a  connecting  link  be¬ 
tween  the  eastern  work  and  the  far 
western  field,  a  station  was  estab¬ 
lished  in  1895  at  Hanyang,  in  Central 
China,  a  city  which,  with  the  neigh¬ 
boring  cities  of  Hankow  and  Wu¬ 
chang,  constitutes  a  great  center  of 
population  and  industries. 

In  Japan  a  beginning  was  made  in 
1872.  A  feature  of  this  work  of 
exceptional  interest  is  that  conducted 
by  a  mission  vessel  among  the  islands 
of  the  Inland  Sea  and  the  Goto 
Islands.  Those  familiar  with  the 


lO 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


plans  followed  in  this  work  and  with 
the  steady  advancement  which  has 
characterized  it,  confidently  anticipate 
for  it,  in  the  not  distant  future,  re¬ 
sults  to  which  the  history  of  mis¬ 
sions  offers  few  parallels. 

The  responsibility  laid  upon  Ameri¬ 
can  churches  in  the  acquisition  of 
the  Philippine  Islands  by  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Government  was  recognized  by 
the  society  in  1900  by  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  a  mission  in  the  central 
Visayan  group  of  islands. 

In  addition  to  the  missions  among 
non-Christian  peoples,  the  society 
has  conducted  an  extended  coopera¬ 
tive  work  in  many  countries  of  con¬ 
tinental  Europe.  In  this  work  con¬ 
cern  for  the  spread  of  a  vital,  spiritual 
Christianity  was  reinforced  by  sym¬ 
pathy  for  those  engaged  in  the  con¬ 
flict  for  religious  liberty.  The  work 
was  opened  in  France  in  1832,  and 
in  Germany  in  1834.  From  these 
centers  it  has  extended,  in  the  one 
case  into  Belgium,  Switzerland  and 
Spain ;  in  the  other  into  well-nigh  all 
countries  of  northern  Europe.  A 
work  was  begun  in  Greece  in  1836, 
soon  after  its  achievement  of  national 
independence ;  but  like  other  Protes¬ 
tant  work  entered  upon  at  this  time, 
it  was  fatally  impeded  by  the  opposi¬ 
tion  of  the  established  ecclesiastical 
order  to  the  principles  of  religious 
liberty  as  formulated  in  the  national 
constitution. 

Statistics 

The  results  reported  at  the  close 
of  1913  for  the  work  in  non-Chris¬ 
tian  lands  are  as  follows : 


Mission  stations .  127 

Missionaries .  701 

Organized  churches  .  1,575 

Church  members  .  166,330 

Native  workers  .  6,106 

Native  contributions . $160,253 


The  number  of  missionaries  and 
church-members  by  countries  is  as 
follows : 

Mission-  Church 
aries.  Members. 

Burma  .  191  65,912 

Assam  .  66  '  13,317 

South  India  .  113  66,826 

Bengal-Orissa .  25  1,621 

China  .  139  6,339 

Japan  .  58  3,978 

Belgian  Kongo .  47  4,506 

Philippine  Islands .  29  3,831 

The  membership  of  Baptist 
churches  in  Europe  resulting  from 
work  in  which  the  society  has  co¬ 

operated  is:  Germany,  42,930;  Swe¬ 
den,  54,268;  Finland,  3,190;  Den¬ 
mark,  4,196;  Norway,  3,599;  France 
( including  parts  of  Belgium  and 
Switzerland,  2,123;  Spain,  64.  In 

Russia  28,900  members  are  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Russian  Baptist 
Union,  which  represents  in  the  main 
Germans  and  other  immigrant  peo¬ 
ple  resident  in  Russia,  a  number  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  much  in  excess  of  this 
are  native  Russians  organized  in 
Baptist  churches.  The  total  Baptist 
membership  in  Europe,  exclusive  of 
the  pure  Russian  churches,  is  139,270. 

Financial  contributions  for  the 
first  three  years  of  the  history  of 
the  convention  were  in  excess  of 
$10,000  annually.  Through  various 
causes  the  total  of  contributions  de¬ 
clined  for  a  time  and  an  advance 
was  not  reached  until  a  little  before 
1830.  In  1834  donations  were  $23,- 
941.20.  In  1844,  $63,062.29.  In 
1864,  the  Jubilee  Year,  $109,519.74. 
In  1874,  $261,530.90.  In  1894,  $465,- 
943.73.  In  1904,  $738,585.02.  In 
1912,  $1,150,474.47. 

Characteristics  and  Ideals 

An  outstanding  feature  of  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  organization  has  been 
its  work  among  primitive  peoples 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


-  1 1 


tries  a  leading  ethnologist  writes : 
“Few  of  the  wilder  parts  of  the 
world  possess  so  vast  a  variety  of 
savage  tribes  of  so  great  ethnological 
interest.  Scattered  detachments 
from  China,  India,  Tibet  and 
Burma  have  developed  into  innumer¬ 
able  tribes  differing  widely  in  ap¬ 
pearance,  customs,  language,  but  all 
alike  engaged  in  bloodthirsty  feuds, 
head-hunting,  and  murderous  raids. 
Through  this  call  of  the  wild,  rein¬ 
forced  by  a  series  of  remarkable 
providences,  the  work  in  Burma,  be- 


the  Mikirs,  the  Abors  and  Miris,  in 
addition  to  the  work  for  the  As¬ 
samese  and  for  the  immigrants  from 
Central  India  who  form  the  coolie 
population  of  the  tea-garden  dis¬ 
tricts.  Thus  the  work  in  these  two 
oldest  fields  of  the  society  has  in¬ 
cluded  labors  in  the  most  isolated 
sections  of  Asia,  perpetuating  all  the 
romance  and  calling  for  all  the 
physical  heroism  of  the  earliest 
periods  of  the  missionary  enterprise. 

In  Southern  India  circumstances 
equally  controlling  resulted  in  a 


and  among*  classes  socially  deprest. 
The  choice  of  Burma,  a  country 
with  a  great  commingling  of  peo¬ 
ples,  as  the  original  field  of  effort 
made  this  development  practically 
inevitable,  and  the  tendency  was 
confirmed  through  the  entrance 
upon  work  in  Assam.  Of  the 
mountain  region  forming  the  con¬ 
necting  territory  of  the  two  coun¬ 


side  the  people  for  whom  it  was 
originally  designed,  has  included  the 
Karens,  the  Talaings,  the  Shans,  the 
Kachins,  the  Chins  and,  during  re¬ 
cent  years,  the  Lahu  and  Wa  races. 
It  includes  also  a  work  for  the  immi¬ 
grant  Telugus  and  Tamils,  the  Chi¬ 
nese  and  English-speaking  peoples. 
In  Assam,  work  has  been  conducted 
for  the  Caros,  the  Rabhas,  the  Nagas, 


YATES  HALL  OF  THE  SHANGHAI  BAPTIST  COLLEGE 


12 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


large  development  of  work  among 
a  people  of  the  lowest  social  posi¬ 
tion.  When  the  prejudices  of  the 
caste  peoples  forced  upon  the  mis¬ 
sionary  a  choice  between  the  loss  of 
their  patronage  and  rejection  of  out- 
caste  converts  he  was  true  to  his 
trust. 

These  labors  among  humble  pen¬ 


sionary  annals.  The  record  has  been 
continued  by  notable  revival  move¬ 
ments  in  the  Kongo  mission,  among 
the  Visayans,  and  in  the  past  few 
years  among  the  Lahu  and  Wa  races 
in  the  Kengtung  State  and  adjoining 
districts  of  China,  of  whom  it  is 
believed  that  10,000  persons  have 
sincerely  embraced  the  Christian 


pies  have  been  identified  with  some 
of  the  most  extraordinary  results 
witnessed  in  missionary  history. 
There  have  been  great  ingatherings. 
The  remarkable  movement  among 
the  Karens  of  Burma,  which  began 
during  the  lifetime  of  Dr.  Judson, 
was  followed  in  1877,  ^^d  subse¬ 
quently,  by  results  among  the  Telugus 
recognized  as  constituting  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  triumphs  in  mis- 


faith.  And  other  proofs  of  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  have  appeared 
among  the  aboriginal  and  lowly  peo¬ 
ples,  in  the  renewal  of  individual 
lives  and  the  transforming  of  civili¬ 
zations.  Indeed,  the  work  among 
the  lower  classes  of  India  is  promis¬ 
ing  to  solve  the  baffling  problem  of 
the  spiritual  conquest  of  the  land 
which  has  seemed  so  hopelessly 
bound  in  the  fetters  of  Hinduism. 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


VINTON  MEMORIAL  HALL,  RANGOON,  BURMA 


Already  the  surprizing  results  wit¬ 
nessed  among  the  outcastes  are  prov¬ 
ing  a  disintegrating  force  among  the 
caste  peoples.  Missionaries  of  the 
society  concur  fully  in  the  conviction 
exprest  so  strongly  by  the  English 


Bishop  of  Madras  that  it  is  the  de¬ 
sign  of  providence  that  India  shall 
be  regenerated  from  the  bottom  up¬ 
ward. 

A  foremost  characteristic  of  the 
work  of  the  society  is  apparent  in 


14 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


even  the  most  cursory  view  of  its 
history.  In  a  preeminent  degree  the 
work  has  been  that  of  evangelization 
by  direct  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 
]\Ir.  Judson,  when  deeply  engaged  in 
the  work  of  translation  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  writes  in  1829  to  the  Mission 
Rooms :  “We  beg  still  to  be  allowed 
to  feel  that  our  great  work  is  to 
preach  the  Gospel  viva  voce!'  Of 
seven  “Resolutions”  which  he  wrote 


resolution  thus  shown  are  expressive 
of  the  inmost  spirit  of  the  missionary 
body.  A  profound  conviction  of  the 
indispensableness  of  personal  regene¬ 
ration  as  the  condition  of  all  true  ad¬ 
vancement  for  individuals  and  peo¬ 
ples,  of  the  possibility  of  this  ex¬ 
perience  for  every  human  soul,  and 
of  the  promise  of  the  direct  working 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  connection 
with  the  preaching  of  the  Word  has 


SOME  OF  THE  WASEDA  DORMITORY  BOYS,  TOKYO,  JAPAN 


in  1837,  the  fourth  reads,  “Embrace 
every  opportunity  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  soul’'  and  the 
seventh,  “Preach  the  Gospel  every 
day!'  The  history  of  one  hundred 
years  has  no  more  representative 
scene  than  that  of  John  E.  Clough 
making  his  way,  soon  after  his  ar¬ 
rival  in  India,  to  a  public  place  in 
Madras  and  repeating  over  and  over 
the  single  verse  of  Scripture  which 
he  had  mastered  in  the  Telugu 
tongue,  “God  so  loved  the  world  that 
He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son.” 
The  definiteness  of  aim  and  the  fixt 


been  the  basis  of  this  representative 
practise. 

This  central  ideal  determined  the 
typical  characteristics  of  the  work. 
The  missionaries  mingled  with  the 
people.  Multiplying  of  stations 
rather  than  a  large  development  of 
v/ork  at  single  centers  found  favor. 
I’ersonal  conversation,  wayside 
preaching,  tours  in  the  jungle,  were 
habitual  features.  Confidence  in  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  to  reach  the 
old  as  well  as  the  young  was  strong. 
“The  first  profession  of  the  religion 
of  Jesus,”  President  Wayland  wrote 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


15 


in  commenting  upon  Dr.  J  nelson’s 
lidelity  to  this  ideal,  ‘hnust  of  neces¬ 
sity  expose  the  disciple  to  obloquy 
and  persecution.  No  one  can  sup¬ 
pose  it  to  be  the  will  of  God  that 
these  are  first  to  be  borne  by  little 
children.” 

Stress  was  laid  very  definitely 
upon  mission  work  as  germinal 


in  some  instances,  been  maintained 
for  a  time  after  the  manner  of  the 
Israelites  of  old,  this  has  been 
recognized  as  temporary ;  local 
churches  bearing  full  responsibil¬ 
ity  of  administration  and  work,  with 
no  human  authority  above  them, 
have  been  fundamental  factors  in 
the  policy  observed.  Stewardship  in 


THE  UNION  HOSPITAL  AT  ILOILO,  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS 


rather  than  comprehensive  and  com¬ 
plete.  It  was  a  planting  of  the  acorn, 
'hhe  egg  of  forests.”  While  the 
Gospel  holds  within  itself  the  potency 
and  promise  of  every  form  of  social 
and  national  good,  these  were  to  be 
thought  of  as  later  products,  to*  be 
realized  in  the  development  of  re¬ 
generated  peoples. 

Emphasis  has  been  constant  upon 
early  establishment  of  the  local 
church  as  to  the  divinely  appointed 
agency  for  Christian  nurture  and  de¬ 
velopment  of  efficiency  in  Christian 
service.  While  under  extraordinary 
conditions  of  large  ingathering  re¬ 
sort  to  a  single  place  of  worship  has. 


the  use  of  money  and  the  importance 
of  development  of  self-support  have 
been  strongly  emphasized.  Recogni¬ 
tion  of  this  obligation  appeared,  in 
an  almost  unexampled  degree,  among 
the  Karens;  almost  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  a  great  section  of  this  people 
have  maintained  worship  without 
pecuniary  assistance.  Recent  statis¬ 
tics  show  a  ratio  of  native  workers 
to  missionaries  of  eight  to  one,  and 
a  ratio  of  native  workers  to  ordained 
missionaries  of  twenty-one  to  one. 

A  gratifying  development  of  mis¬ 
sionary  activities  by  the  native 
churches  has  been  seen  particularly 
in  the  older  fields.  Home  and  for- 


i6 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


eign  missionary  organizations  have 
been  constituted.  The  Karen 
churches  support  missionary  workers 
in  remote  districts  of  Burma  and  in 
Siam.  The  Telugu  Christians  sus¬ 
tain  a  work  in  Natal,  Africa;  two 
of  their  number  have  gone  as  mis¬ 
sionaries  to  this  land.  The  new 
development  of  self-reliance  in  the 


the  work  of  evangelization  and  their 
aim  has  been  mainly  that  of  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  Christian  community. 

Elementary  and  intermediate  edu¬ 
cation  have  had  marked  attention, 
particularly  in  the  more  western 
fields.  In  Japan  and  the  Philippine 
Islands  the  presence  of  a  public 
school  system  has  modified  this  de¬ 


native  body,  which  is  appearing  so 
strongly  at  the  present  time,  is  recog¬ 
nized  by  representative  missionaries 
as  the  fulfilment  of  ideals  cherished 
in  all  true  missionary  work  from  the 
beginning. 

Educational  Work 

The  ideals  cherished  in  respect  to 
the  central  aim  and  method  of  mis¬ 
sions  were  certain  to  afifect  plans  in 
educational  work.  These  ideals,  at 
'an  early  time,  led  to  disfavor  for  a 
large  development  of  schools  as  an 
agency  for  gaining  access  to  non- 
Christian  peoples.  As  a  rule  schools 
have  followed  rather  than  preceded 


velopment,  and  in  China,  until  re¬ 
cently,  the  number  of  converts  was 
small  and  development  of  schools 
was  correspondingly  restricted.  In 
British  India,  elementary  school 
work — the  type  of  education  to  which 
the  Government  is  now  giving  so 
conspicuous  attention  —  has  been 
widely  extended  in  the  work  of  the 
society.  Schools  for  girls  have  been 
favored  for  all  fields  and  are  now 
showing  a  flourishing  development. 

The  schools  have  been  openly  and 
strongly  Christian ;  of  no  other  so¬ 
ciety  is  this  more  true. 

Schools  for  ministerial  training 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


'7 


have  been  opened  in  all  lields.  The 
type  of  work  for  a  time  was  adapted 
intentionally  to  the  needs  of  the 
common  people.  But,  while  retain¬ 
ing  this  ideal,  a  number  of  the 
schools  have  reached  now  a  high 
intellectual  standard. 

The  convictions  primarily  deter¬ 
mining  the  work  of  the  society  were 
unfavorable  to  an  early  development 
of  institutions  of  higher  education. 
The  absorbing  demands  created  by 
the  extraordinary  results  which  at- 


h.ighly  develoi)ed  educational  work  in 
the  supply  of  native  teachers  for  the 
schools  so  rapidly  multiplying,  it  is 
seeking  to  cooperate  strongly  with 
the  general  movement  by  provision 
of  American  teachers  and  by  finan¬ 
cial  support  of  this  work.  It  is  rec¬ 
ognized  that  a  claim  of  exceptional 
urgency  has  developed  through  the 
sudden  overflowing  of  Western  in¬ 
fluences  and  Western  institutions 
upon  the  life  of  China.  Through 
these  conditions,  indeed,  the  work  of 


tended  the  work  of  evangelism,  partic¬ 
ularly  in  the  fields  first  occupied, 
strengthened  this  tendency.  The  be¬ 
ginnings  of  collegiate  work  appeared 
in  Burma  in  1872,  in  South  India  in 
1894,  in  China  in  1906.  Develop¬ 
ment  of  this  work  is  now  strongly 
enlisting  the  attention  of  the  society. 
Establishment  of  a  comprehensive 
educational  work  is  sought  in  gen¬ 
eral  and  in  the  more  advanced  lands 
the  maintenance,  or  joint  support,  of 
a  Christian  institution  of  higher  edu¬ 
cation  for  each  section  of  its  work. 
In  China,  while  the  society  can  not 
compete  with  organizations  with  a 


higher  education  is  brought  into  di¬ 
rect  relation  to  a  permanent  universal 
evangelism  since  dififusion  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  through  China  is  largely  de¬ 
pendent  upon  the  Christianizing  of 
the  schools.  And  this  work,  through¬ 
out  the  East,  is  related  obviously  to 
the  work  now  disclosed  as  belonging 
to  an  adequate  discharge  of  the  duty 
of  the  Christian  Church — the  full 
Christianizing  of  non-Christian  lands 
by  the  transfusion  of  their  life  with 
Christian  ideals  and  forces. 

The  higher  educational  work  of 
the  society  is  represented  by  the  Ran¬ 
goon  Baptist  College,  which  for 


i8 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


many  years  has  confronted  incalcu¬ 
lable  benefits  upon  the  peoples  of 
Burma,  and  by  the  Shanghai  Baptist 
College,  founded  jointly  by  Northern 


SAW  MILL,  JARO  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL,  JARO, 
PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS 


and  Southern  Baptists  of  America  in 
1906,  and  doing  already  a  work  of 
large  promise.  The  society  cooper¬ 
ates  in  the  work  of  Madras  Univer¬ 
sity  in  India,  and  is  about  to  enter 
into  cooperation  with  the  collegiate 
work  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Dutch 
Reformed  bodies  in  Tokyo,  Japan. 
In  China,  the  society  is  represented 
in  the  University  of  Nanking,  and  is 
one  of  four  missionary  organizations 
conducting  the  work  of  the  West 
China  Union  University  at  Chengtu, 
in  Szchuen  Province.  Participation 
in  the  work  of  Canton  University  is 
in  contemplation  in  South  China. 

The  Theological  Seminary  for 
Karens,  which  together  with  a  Semi¬ 
nary  for  Burmans  and  other  races  is 
conducted  at  Insein,  Burma,  is  said 
to  be  the  largest  institution  for  minis¬ 
terial  training  in  the  East.  The 
Telugu  Seminary  at  Ramapatnam  is 
one  of  the  largest  in  India.  A  theo¬ 
logical  school  in  Tokyo,  Japan,  is  con¬ 
ducted  in  conjunction  with  the  South¬ 


ern  Baptist  Board,  and,  in  the  Bel¬ 
gian  Kongo,  a  Biblical  Training 
School  is  supported  jointly  by  the 
society  and  by  English  Baptists. 

Educational  statistics  are : 

Pupils  in  colleges,  143. 

High  schools,  8;  pupils,  3,676. 

Secondary  schools  98;  pupils  10,- 
717. 

Primary  schools  2,092 ;  pupils  57,- 

686. 

Theological  and  training  schools 
23 ;  pupils  869. 

Total  number  under  instruction 
73,091. 

The  opening  of  the  hostel,  or 
dormitory,  as  a  Christian  home  for 
students  in  Government  or  private 
schools,  has  formed  a  valued  ad¬ 
junct  of  educational  work  in  several 
of  the  society’s  fields.  In  the  Philip¬ 
pines  and  in  Japan  these  institutions 
have  been  notably  influential  in  work 
for  both  young  men  and  young  wo¬ 
men.  Peculiarly  favorable  conditions 
have  been  enjoyed  in  Japan,  through 
the  friendliness  of  the  authorities  of 
W'aseda  University,  in  which  the  mis¬ 
sionary  under  whose  guidance  this 
interest  has  developed  holds  an  ap- 
•pointment  as  a  lecturer  in  the  depart¬ 
ment  of  religion. 

Other  Forms  of  Work 

Statistics  in  medical  work  are : 
Missionaries  58,  hospitals  27,  dis¬ 
pensaries  57,  patients  treated  in  1913, 
In-patients  6,232,  Out-patients  94,- 
234.  The  Society  cooperates  in  those 
of  the  union  medical  schools  in  China. 

Industrial  work  has  been  main¬ 
tained  at  many  stations  as  a  means 
of  partial  self-support  for  pupils. 
In  India  the  entire  service  of  one 
missionary  has  been  given  to  the 
problem  presented  in  the  industrial 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


19 


SINCLAIR  ORPHANAGE  BUNGALOW,  FOR  GIRLS,  AT  BALASORE,  BENGAL 


depression  of  the  people.  In  the 
Philippine  Islands  solution  of  the  in¬ 
dustrial  problem  is  sought  through 
a  flourishing  school  which  has  won 
high  commendation  from  the  people 
and  from  American  officials — a  school 
of  industry  rather  than  that  of  tech¬ 
nical  training,  which  by  development 
of  habits  of  work  seeks  to  meet  a 
fundamental  need  in  the  islands. 

From  the  outset  the  Press  has  been 
widely  utilized.  Three  printing  and 
publishing  plants  are  now  maintained  ; 


the  Rangoon  Press,  which  for 
many  years  has  done  a  widely  in¬ 
fluential  work ;  the  Iloilo  Press,  es¬ 
tablished  in  1906,  and  the  press  at 
Canton,  China,  strongly  developed 
by  the  Southern  Baptists,  with  whom 
the  Northern  Society  is  now  co¬ 
operating. 

A  remarkable  succession  of  gifted 
men  has  contributed  to  a  wide  lin¬ 
guistic  work.  Languages  have  been 
caught  from  the  lips  of  unlettered 
races  and  reduced  to  writing.  The 


HIGH  SCHOOL  AT  BALASORE,  SHOWING  GHARRI  OR  CARRIAGE  USED  BY  BIBLE  WOMEN 


20 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


Bible  has  been  translated,  as  a  whole 
or  in  part,  into  upward  of  thirty 
languages  and  dialects.  Thorough¬ 
ness  and  accuracy  have  characterized 
this  work  in  a  marked  degree.  Dr. 
Tudson’s  recognized  ‘‘lust  for  finish¬ 
ing”  having  been  shared  by  his  suc¬ 
cessors. 

In  general,  a  review  of  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  society  indicates  that  it 
has  prized  greatly,  and  has  sought 
to  enrich,  the  fellowship  maintained 
by  the  brotherhood  of  missionary  or¬ 
ganizations.  It  is  now  widely  repre- 


MR.  BILLIXGTON  AND  HIS  MONOCYCLE,  IN  THE 
BELGIAN  KONGO 


sented  in  cooperative  work.  In  all 
new  undertakings  inquiry  is  made 
habitually,  in  the  interest  of  economy, 
efficiency  and  fraternity,  as  to  the 
practicability  of  conducting  the  work 
jointly  with  other  bodies. 

It  may  be  noted  as  a  singular  fact 
that  the  annals  of  the  society  show 
no  record  of  martyrdom  through  vio¬ 
lence.  While  the  early  history  pre¬ 
sents  a  story  of  suffering  and  perils 
almost  unrivaled  in  their  severity 
and  duration ;  and  while,  in  later 
years,  representatives  of  the  society 
have  been  brought  repeatedly  into 
positions  in  which  escape  from 


death  seemed  humanly  impossible,  it 
would  appear  that  not  one  member 
of  the  mission  force  has  received 
formal  enrolment  in  “the  glorious 
company  of  martyrs.” 

If  a  general  characterization  of 
the  work  of  the  organization  be 
sought,  it  may  be  said  that  it  has  had 
to  do,  perhaps  in  an  unusual  degree, 
with  peoples  who  are  yet  in  the 
making,  but  who,  through  their  na¬ 
tive  endowments  and  their  Christian 
development  give  promise  of  filling 
ultimately  a  place  of  large  influence 
in  the  divine  world-plan.  It  repre¬ 
sents  a  great  service  for  the  uplift¬ 
ing  of  deprest  classes.  It  is  bearing 
an  important  part  in  the  spiritual 
conquest,  not  only  of  Hinduism,  but 
of  Buddhism,  to  which  at  the  outset 
it  laid  siege  in  a  central  stronghold. 
In  its  work  in  the  farther  East  it 
has  laid  a  sound  substructure  and 
has  secured  a  vantage  ground  for  a 
strong  cooperation  in  the  use  of  all 
agencies  through  which  the  triumph 
of  Christianity  is  to  be  achieved. 

The  past  reveals  much  that  is  in¬ 
spiring  to  the  constituency  of  this 
organization  as  it  is  observing  its 
centenary.  Opportunities  of  illimit¬ 
able  reach  invite.  With  a  devoted 
and  confident  body  of  missionary 
workers,  with  increasing  emphasis  at 
home  upon  the  missionary  obliga¬ 
tion  as  binding  upon  the  entire 
church,  with  a  strong  body  charged 
with  the  task  of  missionary  adminis¬ 
tration,  and  with  reminders  in  which 
no  other  organization  can  have  sur¬ 
passed  them,  that  all  success  is  con¬ 
ditioned  upon  recognition  of  depend¬ 
ence  upon  Almighty  God,  the  North¬ 
ern  Baptists  of  America  should 
make  a  genuine  and  ever-enlarging 
contribution  to  the  spread  of  the 
Gospel  through  all  the  earth. 


